It’s a funny thing about writers, especially romance writers. Or at least about ME, since I guess I can’t speak to anyone else’s experience but my own. I was always really involved in romanceland. I ran a site called The Passionate Pen for aspiring authors for over a decade. I went to RWA meetings and conferences. I knew lots of people and entered contests. And then…one day…I just stopped.

You know how sometimes you look up and two years have gone by and you haven’t blogged. No? That’s just me. Yup, it’s me. Well, you know, things got busy, I was writing a lot of books and such. But I thought I’d just post a little update and check in.

My biggest news is that we have moved. Arizona is no longer our home and we are in Dallas now. Lots of people have asked me why we moved.… [Read more...]

Recently I had rights returned for ten books when Samhain Publishing finally (FINALLY) closed their doors. If you were on my social media, you probably saw the picture I posted of the moment when I got the email releasing my rights:

The emotions you’re seeing here are relief, joy, and disbelief. It was a long journey to get these books back. One that started at the end of last February when Samhain first announced they would be closing and all rights returned to authors.… [Read more...]

This is my continuation of the 100 Questions No One Ever Asks from Four Hats and a Frugal. Here is the sixth set of questions:

LAST TIME YOU GOT A PORTRAIT TAKEN BY A PHOTOGRAPHER?
Probably when I got my author photo taken for the zombie books in 2010. A long time. But if we can manage to lose some weight, my husband and I will be getting a shoot for our 20th anniversary in March.

November is almost over, so it’s time for an November Recap. Here’s what’s been going on in Jess Michaels World in the past month:

One Summer of Surrender was released. Thank you to everyone who bought it. I hope you’ll consider leaving an honest review if you haven’t!

We were very happy to have the opportunity to close early on our Tucson house, so we are officially all done there. It’s been nice to replenish our funds, buy some new things for the new house and be settled without the other house hanging over us.

Recently I was asked how I choose project order. How do I pick which characters within a series to write first versus last. And also how do I choose when to write one series over another. So here is my answer:

It really depends on the series. For example, in the Seasons series, I knew Gray and Rosalinde would be first, as this is how the families involved in that series are introduced to each other, at the failed wedding of Rosalinde’s sister Celia to Gray’s brother, the Earl of Stenfax.… [Read more...]

This is my continuation of the 100 Questions No One Ever Asks from Four Hats and a Frugal. Here is the third set of questions:

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE?

One of my least favorite movies I ever suffered through was Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis. He’s trying to help this lady and I think some orphans or something out of a war torn…jungle maybe? Anyway, it’s awful and the lady who plays the heroine is running through the jungle for three days and her make up was still perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was putting things away in my office, I printed out my release schedule and tacked it up on my wall. I like being able to look over and see both my writing schedule and my release schedule. All these upcoming projects are so fun to think about (and I’m thinking about them all right now) but with a very few exceptions, I haven’t shared much about them with all of you.… [Read more...]

Get automatic contest entries, receive weekly updates, and early and exclusive access to book covers, short stories, and preview chapters. Plus, as a subscriber, you'll get a chance to win either a Kindle ($69 value) or a $75 Amazon gift certificate EVERY month!